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Behind in polls, Onorato works the campaign trail

August 6, 2010

Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania Governor may be trailing in the polls but he’s been busy trolling for any votes he can get.

In the blistering heat yesterday, you might expect to find Dan Onorato at a lakeside cottage, resting for the fall campaign. Instead he was in a crisply-pressed suit at a West Philadelphia business center, chatting up workers and business owners, many of whom hadn’t a clue who he was. For his efforts, Onorato met a few dozen voters, and he drew a handful of local reporters. Was it worth it?

Polls show him trailing his Republican opponent, Pennsylvania Attorney General Tom Corbett, and Onorato says it’s a must to spend time in the Philadelphia area.

“Tom and I are both from the West – they know me in the west, and I’m in the Northeast and Erie,” he says. “Philadelphia and the Philadelphia region are going to be key to turning around the economy. And yes, I’m here cause I want the people to get to know who I am, and what I stand for.”

Villanova University Assistant Professor of Political Science Lara Brown says the candidates are running different kinds of campaigns.

“Onorato is looking out to kind of engage the voters and run a grassroots campaign,” she says. “I think Corbett is running a smart campaign. He’s kind of staying off trail and lying low but raising money. And really kind of riding the favorable wave that he’s already on.”

With just months to go, the race to replace Ed Rendell is far from a done deal: polls show Onorato within eleven points with many voters still undecided.